Traumatic Weekend

Our weekend ended up being a little scary and a lot exhausting. On Saturday evening, as we were all heading out the door to grab drive-thru dinner and to go see the light show at the Smokies Stadium, Lily tripped over BJ's foot and landed hard on the living room floor. When she sat up I could immediately tell that there was something terribly wrong with her left arm. Her arm dangled from her elbow like a cooked noodle. I started saying, "She has to go to the ER right now!" BJ examined her arm and asked her if she could move it. I knew she could not by the looks of it. I just kept repeating, "She needs to go to the ER! Put her in the van and I'll grab her stuff." BJ soon realized what I had seen and he moved quickly to load her into her car seat in his car. He insisted that he take her. He saw I was in no condition to drive and handle the emergency situation. He was absolutely right. I was panicking.

Soon BJ started giving me text updates while they were at Children's Hospital. First it was "Saw the doctor. L is getting morphine. Getting ready to do xray" I was relieved they took her in so quickly and was able to give her pain relief right away. The next text that came said, "They are keeping her tonight. Surgery at 8 a.m. tomorrow." That's when I called BJ and asked what was going on and why this didn't just involve setting the break, a putting on a cast, and coming home a few hours later. Turns out she fractured her arm just above her elbow joint. The on-call orthopedic surgeon explained that because of the location of the break, the muscles and ligaments there were very strong, and in order to keep the bones in place she would need two pins placed in the bones. That's when I packed my bags and made arrangements to go to the hospital to stay with Lily and BJ overnight. Thanks to my brother who came and kept the boys overnight and the whole next day.

When I got to the hospital Lily was already in a room hooked up to IV and monitors and her arm was in a splint. She looked pitiful. She was clearly drugged, but she still experienced a lot of pain in her arm. She especially had pain when she needed to get up to go to the bathroom, or when she needed to get adjusted in the bed. Her little body shook all over from the pain and she cried every time she moved. Luckily, she was able to rest fairly well once she got comfortable in her bed, and 8 a.m. came very quickly. The surgeon was right on time and his assisting staff was excellent. The surgery only lasted about 20 minutes, and afterward, the surgeon said her arm was fixed. The cast would need to stay on for about 4 weeks. After that time he would evaluate her arm and then both the cast would come off and the pins would come out.

We were able to come home at 2 p.m. on Sunday. We all took a three hour nap before my brother returned with the boys. Lily is doing very well now. Her pain is lessened a lot since Saturday night. She has only needed Advil or Tylenol instead of the other pain meds the doctor prescribed. Lily is doing great with her cast. She complains that it itches underneath and that it begins to hurt if she's up playing for awhile. That's when she lays down on the couch or on her bed and we prop up her arm with pillows. She has been a real trooper through all of this.

And then tonight we had another little scare. Schaeffer has seen us giving Lily Advil and Tylenol. When we got everyone in bed, we had left the Advil on the bathroom counter upstairs knowing Lily may need a dose in the middle of the night. Schaeffer sneaked out of his bedroom and we heard him making noises upstairs. BJ went up to check on him and caught him with the Advil bottle open with the measuring spoon used. I immediately called Walgreens and talked with the pharmacist. We think he only drank about 2 1/2 teaspoons because that's how much one measuring spoon holds and based on what was left in the Advil bottle. Schaeffer's dosage would only be about 1 1/2 teaspoons. The pharmacist reassured me that Advil is not toxic even at the dosage he took. The only side effect he may experience is an upset stomach. Whew! I sure was praying that we weren't taking another trip to the ER tonight!

Some days it's awfully exhausting being a parent...